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Friday, March 18, 2016

Lizzie Dearden — President Erdogan says freedom and democracy have 'no value' in Turkey amid arrests and military crackdown

"Our guy" Erdogan. His own version of the Patriot Act.

In a speech to local politicians in Ankara, he criticised critics raising concern over Turkey’s record on “democracy, freedom and rule of law” as discussions over a landmark deal on the refugee crisis continue.

“For us, these phrases have absolutely no value any longer,” he said in the televised address, according to a translation by DPA.“Those who stand on our side in the fight against terrorism are our friend. Those on the opposite side, are our enemy.”

As much as I dislike Erdogan, there are some things to remember. He has a huge democratic mandate and he and his party are extremely popular.

He and his AK Party have been subject to many botched or uncovered coups by elements in the military and rightwing nationalists. It is true that he turns a blind eye or actively helps jihadis, but only in the context of crushing the rebellious Kurds. If the Kurdish problem could be settled, Turkey wouldn't think twice about crushing the jihadis, who after all are also a threat to Turkey. Strangely, those who yap the most in the mainstream media about the Turkish-jihadi connection are quite silent about the enormous Saudi-jihadi connection, thus proving that jihadism isn't their prime concern but keeping Turkey out of the EU.

Even if Turkey attempted to do something about the jihadis, it would still *appear* that little is being done or achieved and that they are operating with "impunity": the US occupied Iraq for many years and terrorists not only operated with near impunity but increased manyfold. That has more to do with the total incompetence of the neoconservatives overseeing the occupation, but it it nevertheless informative of how little can be achieved without a political solution. The UK military occupied Northern Ireland for decades and terrorism was rife. The political settlement effectively pacified the situation.